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Home My WebLink About07-18-26 Public Comment - M. Egge - Transportation Board Meeting 7_22 re_ Downtown Parking Data From: Mark Eaae To: Bozeman Public Comment Cc: Emily Cope Subject: [EXTERNAL]Transportation Board Meeting 7/22 re: Downtown Parking Data Date: Saturday,July 18,2026 2:42:22 PM Attachments: 2026.07.18 Downtown_Parking_Public_Comment.pdf CAUTION:This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Members of the Transportation Board, Every parking policy discussion should begin with a reminder that parking is a supply and demand problem. Demand-side strategies (providing ways for visitors to reach downtown without needing parking) are often easier to implement and more effective than supply-side solutions. They are also unambiguously better aligned with the city's broader goals around livability, safety, and sustainability. I've attached a slide deck of additional opportunities for consideration on the parking demand side of the equation. I ask that you please include these in your consideration of downtown parking management solutions. Thank you, Mark Egge, AICP 1548 S Grand Ave, Bozeman, MT 59715 DOWNTOWN t INS=m MEN MEN- HE j in �oil •� r � JIB =1111i _ _ elll�� 1111111 �� i�y�ii�VA 1111111 � • - — 11111111�IIII�IIII�E1 � == - � � III-- , all MEN ,•�� ■ �IIIIII��►Illlll � � In � 11 • • ON LI i�.�l �. � � I►s -- - - - - s 'm • �.L . DOWNTOWN KOW111aI2 PARKING Demand- si' de tools can out er orm new parkl*ng supply Faster to deploy, chew per to fu nd, a nd a I ig ned with the city's broader goals: Sustainability Livability • Safety • Public health PUBLIC COMMENT lolheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 2 DOWNTOWN Bo,.,eman PARKING Demand-side Opportunities: oi. Safe Bicycle Infrastructure o2. Circulator Park & Ride o3. Airport-Downtown Transit o4. Pationalize Pricing Incentives o;. Add Pricing to the Solution Set PUBLIC COMMENT lotheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 3 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING 01. SAFE BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE THE #1 LOW-HANGING FRUIT FOR GETTING PEOPLE DOWNTOWN WITHOUT CARS Ae evidence is every August • Sweet Pea's overflowing bicycle valet at Lindley Park Aeparkingparadox provides more parking capacity than a $30M garage Trading a few spaces on the north at the library would curb of Babcock for the long- • Lindley Park is safe and easy to reach by bike — the planned two-way cycle track is likely Gallagator alone carries thousands of people to the the single most effective step the city festival each year could take to increase parking • Most rational people won't ride downtown today availability downtown. because there is nowhere safe to ride. The city's plans to fix this have never been implemented Seethe 2017 Transportation Master Plan or 2019 Downtown Improvement Plan for more details! PUBLIC COMMENT lolheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 4 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING 02. CIRCULATOR PARK & RIDE BETTER-UTILIZE EXISTING PARKING BEFORE BUILDING NEW CAPACITY Discussed for years but never actually tried ONE ROUTE, FOUR DISTRICTS • Frequent shuttle service linking Downtown, Midtown, the Cannery District, and the Misco Mill area • Fairgrounds (park & ride) • The Fairgrounds becomes a park & ride (a long-discussed Midtown answer to downtown employee parking) �. Cannery District • Promotes economic integration of complementary districts, 'j. Misco Mill and works for visitors driving oversized vehicles Downtown • With URD help on funding, Streamline would be a verywilling partner to run a pilot next summer PUBLIC COMMENT lolheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 5 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING 02. CIRCULATOR PARK & RIDE A Downtown/Midtown/Cannery circulator would cover: kSt N • 10,000 jobs Z W OAt and Fairgrounds • More than 1,000 parking spaces at the Fairgrounds N7thAve Park and Ride WS N Rouse Ave and EIOak St N 7th Ale and W E Tamarack St Tamarack St and N Rouse Ave Downtown Circulator Coverage Summary NWallace Ave and N JhAve E Cottonwood St z z 59139 29702 N Wallace Ave gh SchAO( z and E Fridley St Population Households \\ N7th Ave and p W BealUSt �� E Lamme St and N Wallaace Ave W Mendenhall Downtown 39678 109002 u St and N 5th Ave Transfer Station 1 E Main Stand S Wallace Ave Workers Jobs Source:American Community Survey(2024)via GTFS•X.Workers:employed residents counted where they live(ACS means-of-transportation-to-work universe).Ridership propensity and Transit need are estimates, not counts:de-duplicated unions,so a carless low-income resident is counted once,with the overlap measured from Census PUMS rather than assumed.Neither predicts boardings.Jobs are counted at the workplace (LODES)and are summed inside the walkshed in this exact block-level analysis—a workplace universe,never added to residents. PUBLIC COMMENT lolheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 6 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING Off. AIRPORT-DOWNTOWN TRANSIT MEET DOWNTOWN'S LARGEST VISITOR SEGMENT WHERE IT ARRIVES Service starts this fall—help it grow 74 % • Streamline begins airport-downtown bus service this fall with five runs per day of downtown visitors come from out of state—a substantial share of them • Streamline is seeking funding partners to expand arriving through the airport frequency beyond the initial schedule • Every visitor who arrives downtown by bus is a visitor who never competes for a parking space Source:Placer.ai via Downtown Bozeman Parking:Data, Audience Insights&Opportunities, 7uly 2o26 PUBLIC COMMENT lolheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 7 DOWNTOWN Bo,�eman PARKING 04. RATIONALIZE PRICING INCENTIVES TODAY'S PRICE SIGNAL IS EXACTLY BACKWARDS ON-STREET PARKING GARAGE PARKING Most convenient product Least convenient product Free Paid We give away the most convenient product and charge for the least convenient one. This is the opposite of how any other scarce resource is managed. PUBLIC COMMENT lotheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 8 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING O5-. WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS FREE PARKING ISN'T PREVENTING AVOIDANCE - IT'S PRODUCING IT • People avoid downtowns for two distinct parking reasons: the monetary cost, and the time cost & Q uncertainty of finding a space 41 % • These are substitutes: when curb parking is free but of survey respondents say they avoid scarce, the cost doesn't disappear. Rather, it converts into downtown because parking takes too long circling, search time, and citation risk (with entirely free on-street parking) • Expected search time and availability uncertainty weigh at least as heavily as price in whether drivers visit an area O at all — f change in downtown visitation from Bozeman residents, 2019-2024, while city population grew14% Shoup 2oo6;Arnott&Rouse 2oo9;Calthrop 2ooir;Hunt&7eply ir993:Chaniotakis&Pel2oir5 I Downtown Bozeman Parking Survey&Plaeer.ai 2o26 PUBLIC COMMENT lolheBOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 9 DOWNTOWN Bo,:eman PARKING O5-. WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS BOZEMAN IS UNUSUALLY WELL POSITIONED TO PRICE PARKING • Fee sensitivity concentrates among frequent, price-conscious local shoppers, but 74% of downtown visitors are out-of-state travelers with high time values and little propensity to divert over a modest fee • Demand-responsive pricing on the highest-demand blocks and lots (Black & S. Willson already run near 90% occupancy), with free or cheaper garage and periphery options, is the standard tool for guaranteeing an open space Excluding pricing means solving a documented avoidance problem with supply alone—the least efficient and most expensive path. Hensher&Ding 20oy;Relly&Clineh 20o6;Marsden 2oo6 I City o f Bozeman oeeupaney data, .Ian-.7une 2o26 PUBLIC COMMENT lotilt BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 10 DOWNTOWN Bo,�eman PARKING AeAsk Pair the report's supply and education initiatives with the tools that make existing capacity work harder: oi. Build the Babcock two-way cycle track o,�. Pilot a circulator park & ride with Streamline next summer c Help fund expanded airport-downtown service o4 Stop charging for the garage while the curb is free o5. Put demand-responsive pricing in the solution set Insights by: Mark Egge, AlCP. Design by: claude.ai 11